The Bible is the foundation for everything we believe. When dealing with important matters like defining sin, we must keep it close at hand. The Bible alone meets the needs of sinful men, and those who reject its message are rejecting Christ.

The Created Order

We can begin by looking at the creation story in Genesis 1. In vv. 26–28, the created order is outlined. It talks about being created as men and women in the image of God.

We can notice four things about this passage. First, it is an ordinance (an authoritative order or a law). Second, it is relational, noble, and beautiful! Third, it establishes a firm gender binary. A binary is an entity with two proportions that make up a whole. Humanity is one entity with two parts: male and female. Fourth, the creation ordinance reveals the rules and jobs that God gave to all men and women on earth.

Indwelling Sin

Another passage we can look at is Romans 1. This one helps us make sense of how we came to love the things that God hates. Everybody born in Adam has indwelling sin, and this passage describes three exchanges that we make because of this indwelling sin. First, we dethrone God and put ourselves on the throne instead. Second, we exchange the truth for lies. Third, we take God’s design for sexuality and exchange it for sinful sexuality. Repenting and believing is our only lifeline.

Some false teachers say that our temptations are not sin. They believe there is no sin until we choose to act on our temptations. One problem with this line of thinking is the tenth commandment, which forbids coveting. Coveting is a heart problem. The sinfulness is not in the action of actually taking something that is not yours, but in simply desiring what is not yours.

We experience sinful desires because sin is now inside of us. Since Jesus was not born in Adam, He did not have indwelling sin. Therefore, He only experienced external temptations, which are morally neutral. Since our sins are internal, they are not morally neutral. They are evil, and they must be killed.

Killing Our Sin

The way we kill our indwelling sin is to starve it out. We do this by feeding on the Word of God. Pray that God would take your sinful affections and change them to desire things that He loves! The Gospel has the power to liberate and free you.

Praise be to God that conversion gives us the power to fight the flesh! Through repentance, let us grow in freedom from the bondage of sin.